Alasdair Smith
Pensions Counsel, London
"I advise on all areas of pensions law. I am commercially-focussed and deliver strategic and pragmatic solutions for my clients."
Overview
Professional experience
Education and qualifications
Overview
Alasdair advises insurers, corporates and trustees on all areas of pensions law. His experience includes insurance solutions, bespoke funding arrangements, restructuring and insolvency arrangements and large cross-border corporate transactions.
Alasdair’s clients include the trustees of the Aviva Staff Pension Scheme, RAC (2003) Pension Scheme and United Biscuits Pension Plan. He also acts for Rothesay on insurance solutions.
Work highlights:
Alasdair has advised on a market-leading matters, including:
- CK Hutchison on the joint venture of Three and Vodafone
- The trustee of the Aviva Staff Pension Scheme on its multi-billion bulk purchase annuities with Aviva Life
- The trustee of the RAC (2003) Pension Scheme on its £1.3bn buy-in with Aviva Life, including novation of the Scheme’s existing longevity swap
- Arcadia/Taveta on the high-profile regulatory dispute regarding the BHS pension scheme, specifically designing the structure of the solution which kept BHS members out of the Pension Protection Fund and negotiating the settlement
- Eastman Kodak on a groundbreaking settlement arising from a £2bn deficit in its UK pension scheme including on a regulated apportionment arrangement and setting up a new pension scheme into which members could transfer
Professional experience
Alasdair is a member of the Association of Pension Lawyers.